2/09/2005 08:54:00 pm -
Reported by
Shaun Lyon

February 9, 2005 • Posted By Shaun Lyon

New Welsh culture magazine Siarc Marw currently features an article about the new series of Doctor Who, including an interview with director Euros Lyn (who's a Welsh speaker). "I was surfing the web in a cafe in Siberia when I read that Doctor Who would be returning to our screens; from that second, I desperately wanted to work on a series which is such an unusual combination of humour, adventure and nonsense," Lyn told the magazine (translated from Welsh.) "I e-mailed the producers straight away, pleading with them to meet with me for a chat. Nine months later after five meetings with the show's execs, I was offered the chance to direct the second and third episodes. I was over the moon!" He says that the scripts for the new show "are successful because they work on many levels - they're exciting adventures and epic moral allegories, but also, there's a psychological depth to the characters of the Doctor and Rose... The aim was to juggle those virtues to create three quarters of an hour of exciting entertainment that would also demand a little thought." He was delighted that Doctor Who was filming in his hometown; "this was my childhood fantasy come true! Of course, as soon as the cameras started turning, there was no time to think of anything but my work (the same as my experience on all shows!) There were a lot of technical challenges - like trying to direct actors in rubber monster suits, or sets that were green screens to be added later by computers. It was an experience to direct actors as talented as Christopher Ecclestone, Simon Callow, Billie Piper and Eve Myles - and being able to stand in the Tardis doorway between takes was exciting too!" And he says he hopes people enjoy the spirit of the original which is alive and well in the new series. "It's a very British sci-fi series; full of irony, wit, and avoiding the sentimentality that's in a lot of the American shows. I hope people will also enjoy the better production values too - the modern shooting style, sophisticated computer effects and the naturalistic acting style." (Thanks to "selbog" for the translation)